Many boats, such as sport boats, have at least a portion of a deck which is opened. This means that the opened portions of the deck are not protected from the rain or sun by a cabin having a roof, for example. This can be an inconvenience to the users of the boat located in the opened portion of the deck because they are exposed to the rain or sun, as the case may be. Some boat makers and owners install removable or retractable canopies, such as bimini tops, for example, on their boats in order to protect some of the opened portions of the deck from the rain or sun when the boat is in use. Such removable or retractable canopies protect some portions of the deck from the rain or sun, while allowing the users of the boat to walk freely under such canopies.
A typical canopy has a canvas supported by a frame. The canvas is usually treated to be impermeable to water and the frame is made of a lightweight and strong material such as aluminium or other metal. A common type of canopy used to protect the deck of a boat from the rain or sun is a bimini top. The bimini top is an open-front canvas top that is supported by a metal frame attached to the right and left sides of the deck. The bimini top is usually placed over the deck such that it covers a cockpit of the boat.
Once the frame is attached to the sides of the deck, in order to set up the bimini top, the canvas is extended by moving some members of the frame relative to other members of the frame, such that the canvas is secured in tension on the frame members adapted for its support. In order to retract or close the canopy, while leaving the frame attached to the sides of the deck, the canvas can be detached from the frame and folded on itself or wrapped around a part of the frame. Alternatively, some members of the frame are moved relative to another such that the canvas becomes folded or bundled up one side of the frame.
In order to prepare the bimini top for storage, the frame with the canvas attached thereto may either be folded on itself and disposed at the rear or front portion of the deck, or the frame may be detached, folded and stored separately from the boat.
An inconvenience arising with canopies is that in order to extend the canvas, the canopy has to be manually unfolded and set up. In order to retract the canvas, the canvas has to also be either manually detached from the frame and folded, or some frame members have to be manually moved relative to each other. The manual setting up and removal may be time consuming and laborious.
Another inconvenience of most canopies is that once the canopy is set up and the canvas is extended, it cannot be moved from one position to another to cover different areas of the deck. Therefore, a user of the boat is not able to change the portion of the deck that is protected by the canopy from the rain or sun, once the canopy is set up with the canvas extended.
Therefore, there is a need for a boat having a canopy that may be extended and retracted with relative ease.
There is also a need for a boat having a canopy that may be easily adjusted to cover different areas of the deck, particularly, once the canopy is set up with the canvas extended.
There is also a need a boat having a canopy that can be stored relatively easily.